Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktIt seems to me what she’s talking about is, though, crowd-sourced infrastructure that dynamically accomplishes many of the goals of government (especially at the local level) with the easier distribution of information and the encouragement of involved citizenship.
Sort of a bottom-up socialism. One that completely decentralizes the entire process of “getting things done” in the community.
Filed under: TED Talks |
All Things in Moderation 
Off topic, but let me throw this out there:
The point was made elsewhere that states’ subsidies to college education have declined, which is certainly true over the last 30 years. However that masks the cause of the problem.
Tuition increases about 6-8% a year on a national average basis, while state revenue collection doesn’t come anywhere close to that. So for instance even in the 5 year period since 2007, state revenue collection has only now reached slightly above 2007 levels in general, while college tuition costs have still risen about 12-15% on average.
It’s not that the states are being miserly, though individual ones may be, it’s that universities are being rapacious
http://www.rockinst.org/government_finance/state_r…
http://www.finaid.org/savings/tuition-inflation.ph…
So the percentage of tuition contributed by the state has declined certainly over the last 30 years, but the amount contributed as a percentage of state revenues has remained relatively constant, or a small decline, whereas tuition costs have risen at a rate much higher than inflation.
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Why cut costs? Students have been willing to pay the asking price.
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Kev, I’ve got no time to comment on the substance or even to watch the talk – but I am very glad to hear from you. welcome back. Hope that while you have been busy you have still been able to read our BS every now and then.
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nova:
I can put you in that car for only $300 a month! How does that sound/
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Been keeping abreast of much via iPhone, just too busy to post (or comment) much, and when I have had time, I’ve been exhausted. 😉
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it’s that universities are being rapacious
It’s why I argue for community college. Learn useful skills, come out with manageable debt. 😉
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Kev, yesterday I pointed out that all of my three daughters took CC courses in HS and during summers – which is nearly free in Austin, and which left each of them, coupled with their AP work, with over 30 credits [1 year] of college when they were graduated from HS. If that is available to your kid in Memphis, you should look into it. The dual credit in Austin exempts the kids from several HS classes, as well as giving them college credit.
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we had an argument yesterday about whether it’s still possible to work your way through college. In maryland, i am lucky. The U of Maryland costs only $10,000 a year tuition, and my particular CC cost about $4000 a year.
So depeding on this and that, you could get your 4 year for about $33,000 including books and fees.
Doable in my opinion.
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$33,000 and 18 years to save. That’s less than $2000 a year.
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mark:
They take after their old man!
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I was in good shape again, financially, when the youngest two went to college, but my eldest daughter was graduated from HS in 1991, bottom of the S&L and real estate bust, after a divorce, and I was working for my creditors, period. Her NMS and full ride for five years was a huge break for me and as soon as I was out of debt, end of her junior year, I bought her a brand new car.
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Kevin, good stuff, thanks for the link.
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Speaking of a better government, this was Joe Biden today on Obama: “I promise you, the President has a big stick.”
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OK, I had never heard of TED until earlier this year. How this is possible for someone who spends his reading time on almost only non-fiction and biographies I don’t know. In any case, I was channel surfing and came across TED with J. J. Abrahms. I was fascinated with his talk. Surprisingly so was my wife who would typically not give a show like that a half second on the remote. Somewhat OT but I am now hooked on TED.
I went to CC for a couple semeters and then went to the U of MD where I promptly failed out after about 3 semesters (but graduating from George Mason several years later). This was back in the early 80s but my recollection is that CC is not on the same educational level with a college or university. Financially I like the idea taking the credits at CC prices and in the end a degree from a college is a degree from a college. But my experience was that it was more like an AP high school course than a college course. I think this could be A solution but not the only one and I don’t think you necessarily get the same education. Nor do you typically get the same “life education” as you do going away to school. There is something to be said for learning to be responsible on your own (something that was a hard lesson for me). But again, one can certainly do CC and be a productive member of society.
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